Clark University first granted honorary degrees in 1899, recognizing five eminent European scientists. For the next two decades, Clark granted honorary degrees only three more times — in 1902, 1905, and 1909. Starting in the 1920s, Clark began presenting honorary degrees every few years; the honors became an annual tradition in 1937.
2020–Present
Robert D. Putnam
Political scientist and professor, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
Speaker; L.H.D., 2023
Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Pioneer in carceral geography; professor, City University of New York
L.H.D., 2023
Mary Frances Berry
Civil rights leader, writer, historian, and professor, University of Pennsylvania
Speaker; LL.D., 2022
David Angel
Clark’s ninth president, who championed a liberal arts curriculum; geographer
L.H.D., 2022
Annette Gordon-Reed
Pulitzer Prize-winner (“The Hemingses of Monticello”) and Harvard historian
LL.D., 2022
2010–2019
Robert Stevenish
Clark trustee and business leader (J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Modell’s)
L.H.D., 2019
Hauwa Ibrahim
Nigerian human rights lawyer; honored in 75th year marking first class of undergraduate women at Clark
Speaker; L.H.D., 2018
Susan Hanson
Geographer and Clark professor emerita; honored in 75th year marking first class of undergraduate women at Clark
L.H.D., 2018
Christine Ortiz
MIT engineering researcher; honored in 75th year marking first class of undergraduate women at Clark
L.H.D., 2018
Catalina Escobar ’93
Founder and president of the Juan Felipe Gómez Escobar Foundation in Colombia
Speaker; L.H.D., 2016
Harriette Chandler, M.A. ’63, Ph.D. ’73
Longtime Massachusetts state senator from Worcester
F.A.D., 2016
John Geanakoplos
Economist, professor, and co-founder of the Hellenic Studies Program at Yale
L.H.D., 2016
Francis K. Lelo, Ph.D. ’94
Climate change expert and vice chancellor of Laikipia University in Kenya
L.H.D., 2015
Carol Geary Schneider
Association of American Colleges and Universities president; historian
Speaker; L.H.D., 2012
Donald Berwick
Health policy expert; president and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
D.Sc., 2012
Richard Celeste
President of Colorado College
Speaker; LL.D., 2010
Jessie Gruman
Social psychologist and founder of the Center for Advancing Health
D.Sc., 2010
James Welu
Director of the Worcester Art Museum
L.H.D., 2010
2000–2009
Lois B. Green, MPA ’78
Nonprofit consultant and UMass Medical faculty member; former Clark trustee
L.H.D., 2009
Steven A. Minter
Philanthropist and former CEO, Cleveland Foundation
L.H.D., 2009
David Ward
Former president, American Council on Education
L.H.D., 2009
Christopher Collier ’51
Historian, author, and professor
L.H.D., 2008
Vartan Gregorian
President of the Carnegie Corp., New York Public Library, and Brown University
L.H.D., 2008
Arthur J. Remillard, Jr. ’56
Founder and former CEO and chair, Commerce Group
L.H.D., 2008
Diana Chapman Walsh
Former president of Wellesley College
L.H.D., 2008
Peter Piot
Influential Ebola and AIDS researcher; U.N. and World Health Organization leader
L.H.D., 2007
Hervey Ross ’50
Civic leader and Korean War veteran; Clark alumnus and benefactor
L.H.D., 2007
Lee Shulman
President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
L.H.D., 2007
Frank Wilczek
Nobel laureate, theoretical physicist, and MIT professor
D.Sc., 2007
Blenda J. Wilson
President of California State University, Northridge; oversaw rebuilding after quake
L.H.D., 2007
Robert J. Hurst ’66
Retired vice chairman of Goldman Sachs; Clark trustee
L.H.D., 2006
Paul R. Krugman
Nobel laureate, economist, New York Times columnist, and CUNY professor
L.H.D., 2006
Clare Brett Smith
President of Aid to Artisans, a non-profit organization
L.H.D., 2006
Evelyn M. Witkin, M.A. ’43, Ph.D. ’47
Internationally recognized scientist and pioneer in field of DNA mutagenesis
D.Sc., 2006
David S. Broder
Pulitzer Prize-winning national political correspondent for The Washington Post
Speaker; L.H.D., 2005
Mary Walsh, M.A. ’67, Ph.D. ’74
Psychologist, professor, and chair, Boston College
D.Sc., 2005
Sam Bass Warner
Professor emeritus, Brandeis University; expert on American urban history
L.H.D., 2005
E. O. Wilson
Harvard biologist; Pulitzer Prize winner; pioneer in the study of social insects
D.Sc., 2005
Margaret Marshall
Massachusetts Supreme Court justice who wrote gay marriage decision
Speaker; LL.D., 2003
Mark Shields
Political columnist and commentator
Speaker; L.H.D., 2003
Saul Cohen
President emeritus of Queens College; led Clark’s Graduate School of Geography
L.H.D., 2003
Abraham Foxman
National director of the Anti-Defamation League and antisemitism activist
L.H.D., 2003
Ruth Hubbard
First woman to be awarded tenured position in biology at Harvard
D.Sc., 2003
Annette Rafferty
Co-founder of Abby’s House, a women’s homeless shelter in Worcester
L.H.D., 2003
Mannque Rho ’60
Award-winning, internationally recognized South Korean theoretical physicist
D.Sc., 2003
Roberta Sigel, Ph.D. ’48
Political scientist and professor, Rutgers University
L.H.D., 2003
Mesfin Woldemariam, Ph.D. ’77
Ethiopian political prisoner, human rights activist, professor, and geographer
L.H.D., 2003
Edward Zigler
Yale developmental psychologist who launched federal Head Start program
D.Sc., 2003
Phyllis Franklin
Advocate for the humanities and director of the Modern Language Association
Speaker; L.H.D., 2001
Amartya Sen
Nobel laureate, economist, philosopher, and Harvard professor
Speaker; D.Sc., 2001
Bruce Alberts
Biochemist, editor-in-chief of Science, and National Academy of Sciences president
D.Sc., 2001
Emery Battis
Broadway and Shakespeare Theatre Company actor; historian and author
Litt.D., 2001
Gerald Grob
Rutgers University professor and historian of medicine and mental health
Litt.D., 2001
John Holdren
Harvard Kennedy School professor of environmental policy and program director
D.Sc., 2001
Edna Aden Ismael
Nurse midwife, activist, and first female foreign minister of Somaliland
L.H.D., 2001
Richard P. Traina
Seventh president of Clark University; historian
L.H.D., 2001
Kurt L. Schmoke
First African American elected mayor of Baltimore; lawyer and university president
Speaker; LL.D., 2000
Edgar F. Beckham
Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities
L.H.D., 2000
Jack K. Hale
Georgia Tech mathematician focused on dynamical systems
D.Sc., 2000
Darlene Christian Hoffman
Nuclear chemist at University of California, Berkeley; advocate for women scientists
D.Sc., 2000
1990–1999
Deval Patrick
Massachusetts civil rights lawyer and businessman, later serving as governor
Speaker; LL.D., 1999
Joel L. Lebowitz
Rutgers mathematical physicist and co-chair of the Committee of Concerned Scientists
D.Sc., 1999
Annea Lockwood
Vasser College professor and composer of electronic music
F.A.D., 1999
William Julius Wilson
Harvard sociologist, author, and National Medal of Science laureate
L.H.D., 1999
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Sociologist, education researcher, Harvard professor, and author
Speaker; L.H.D., 1996
Charles MacCormack
President and CEO of Save the Children
Speaker; L.H.D., 1996
Mark Gearan
Director of the Peace Corps during the Clinton administration
L.H.D., 1996
Maxwell Harway
U.S. State Department economist who helped design the Marshall Plan
L.H.D., 1996
Teresa Heinz
Chair of the Heinz Endowments and Heinz Family Philanthropies
L.H.D., 1996
Leon Lederman
Nobel laureate, physicist, and director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
D.Sc., 1996
Mary Lekas ’49
Trailblazer for women pursuing the practice of medicine; practicing otolaryngologist
D.Sc., 1996
Ogretta Vaughn McNeil, Ph.D ’67
College of the Holy Cross psychologist and activist for diversity and inclusion
M.C.S., 1996
William McNeill
University of Chicago scholar of world history and author of The Rise of the West
L.H.D., 1996
Ned O’Gorman
Chemist and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
L.H.D., 1996
Shimon Peres
Israeli head of state and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
L.H.D., 1996
Marion Pritchard
Dutch social worker who rescued Jews during the Holocaust
L.H.D., 1996
Irving Sigel, M.A. ’48
Research psychologist with the Educational Testing Service
D.Sc., 1996
Elie Wiesel
Nobel Peace Prize laureate, professor, author, and Holocaust survivor
L.H.D., 1996
Timothy E. Wirth
Former U.S. Democratic senator from Colorado serving in Clinton administration
Speaker; LL.D., 1995
Roland Fuchs, M.A. ’57, Ph.D. ’59
Geographer and vice rector, United Nations University’s Development Studies division
D.Sc., 1995
Gordan T. Goodman
Founding director, Stockholm Environment Institute
D.Sc., 1995
Gilbert M. Grosvenor
President and chair of board of the National Geographic Society
L.H.D., 1995
Chung-yum Kim ’59
Statesman who championed South Korea’s economic development
LL.D., 1995
James Gustave Speth
Environmental lawyer and co-founder, Natural Resources Defense Council
LL.D., 1995
Robert MacNeil
TV news journalist and co-anchor of PBS’ MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour
Speaker; L.H.D., 1994
Gwendolyn K. Bell, Ph.D. ’67
Co-founder and president of the Computer Museum in Boston
D.Sc., 1994
Paul Tsongas
U.S. senator from Massachusetts
LL.D., 1994
Lewis R. Goldfrank ’63
Director of emergency services at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City
Speaker; L.H.D., 1993
C. Eric Lincoln
Visiting professor of religion at Clark from Duke University; expert on the Black church
L.H.D., 1993
Madeleine May Kunin
Vermont governor known for support of the environment, education, and children
Speaker; LL.D., 1992
Ann McKenny Early ’46
Teacher and member of Clark’s first class to include women undergraduates
L.H.D., 1992
Marcus A. McCorison
President of the American Antiquarian Society; scholar of early American printing
Litt.D., 1992
Liberty Mhlanga ’64, M.A. ’66
Zimbabwe agriculture and development leader; Clark soccer All-America honors
LL.D., 1992
Gerhart Friedlander
Nuclear chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project
D.Sc., 1991
Seymour Wapner
Longtime Clark psychology professor and first provost; founded Academic Spree Day
D.Sc., 1991
Peter O. Willauer
Founder of Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and transatlantic sailor
L.H.D., 1991
Mary Ingraham Bunting-Smith
Pioneer in university administration and science; second honorary degree at Clark
L.H.D., 1990
Stephen Jay Gould
Paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, historian of science, and best-selling author
D.Sc., 1990
Walter Henricks Hodge, A.B. 1934
Economic botanist, collector of tropical plants worldwide, and Worcester native
D.Sc., 1990
Jacques Santer
Prime minister of Luxembourg and member of the Christian Social People’s Party
LL.D., 1990
1980–1989
Oscar Handlin
Harvard historian who encouraged passage of Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
L.H.D., 1989
LaSalle D. Leffall Jr.
Surgeon, oncologist, professor, and chair, Howard University College of Medicine
D.Sc., 1989
Sissela Bok
Professor of philosophy, Brandeis University; leading moral philosopher
L.H.D., 1988
Lester R. Brown
Worldwatch Institute founder; pioneered the concept of sustainable development
L.H.D., 1988
John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie
Jazz trumpeter, band leader, composer, educator, and singer
L.H.D., 1988
Deborah W. Meier
Progressive New York educator and founder of the modern small-schools movement
L.H.D., 1988
John Brademas
President of New York University
LL.D., 1987
Tamara Dembo
Clark emerita professor of psychology and pioneer of rehabilitation psychology
D.Sc., 1987
James P. Grant
Executive director of UNICEF who saved lives through child vaccination worldwide
LL.D., 1987
Timothy J. Harrington
Bishop of Worcester
LL.D., 1987
Leften S. Stavrianos, M.A., Ph.D. ’37
Influential world historian and professor at Smith, Northwestern, and other institutions
L.H.D., 1987
Paris Fletcher
Prominent Worcester attorney
LL.D., 1986
Peter Gay
Yale historian and author of “Sigmund Freud: A Life for Our Time”
L.H.D., 1985
Steven Marcus
Columbia humanities professor and psychoanalytic critic of Dickens’ novels
L.H.D., 1985
Carl Marcy
Foreign policy expert and chief of staff, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
LL.D., 1985
Tillie Olsen
Author, educator, labor activist, and feminist
L.H.D., 1985
Joseph John Sandler
Freud Memorial Chair of Psychoanalysis, University of London
LL.D., 1985
Joseph D. Early
High school teacher, U.S. representative, and supporter of Clark and higher education
LL.D., 1984
Jerome Namias
Nationally recognized research meteorologist from MIT; took Clark classes
D.Sc., 1984
Rudolph F. Nunnemacher
Longtime Clark biology professor (1939–1983)
D.Sc., 1984
Suh Sang-Chul ’58, M.A. ’59
South Korean economist, educator, and World Bank administrator; Clark professor
LL.D., 1984
William O. Baker
President of Bell Labs and advisor on scientific matters to five U.S. presidents
D.Sc., 1983
Marion S. Barry Jr.
Mayor of the District of Columbia
L.H.D., 1983
George Frost Kennan
Diplomat, historian, and advocate for containing Soviet expansion during Cold War
L.H.D., 1983
Carl Schorske
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian (Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture)
L.H.D., 1983
Donna E. Shalala
Politician serving in the Carter and Clinton administrations; Hunter College president
L.H.D., 1983
Hanna Holborn Gray
First female president of the University of Chicago; historian on the Renaissance
L.H.D., 1982
Warren Litsky ’45
Microbiologist, environmental scientist, and Commonwealth Professor, UMass Amherst
D.Sc., 1982
Michael Njenjga
Director of Kenya’s National Environment Secretariat
LL.D., 1982
Steven Weinberg
Nobel laureate, Harvard physicist, and author of “The First Three Minutes”
D.Sc., 1982
Frank W. Press
MIT geophysicist and president-elect of the National Academy of Sciences
Speaker; D.Sc., 1981
Stephen T. Riley ’31
Director emeritus of the Massachusetts Historical Society; honorary Clark trustee
L.H.D., 1981
Richard C. Steele
President and publisher of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and civic leader
L.H.D., 1981
David B. Wingate
Bermuda ornithologist and conservationist who rediscovered the black-capped petrel
D.Sc., 1981
Linus Carl Pauling
Nobel laureate, chemist, peace activist, author, and academic
Speaker; D.Sc., 1980
George F. Kneller ’29
Scholar in education and anthropology; Clark’s athletic center is named for him
L.H.D., 1980
Robert K. Massey
Former co-chair of the Clark Board of Trustees; civic leader in Worcester
LL.D., 1980
Mary McGrory
Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist on Richard Nixon’s enemies list
1980
1970–1979
Edwin O. Reischauer
Former Ambassador to Japan and Harvard historian focused on East Asia
Speaker; LL.D., 1979
John King Fairbank
Harvard historian credited with building the field of China studies in the U.S.
L.H.D., 1979
Frank A. Geldard A.B. 1925, A.M. 1926, Ph.D. 1928
Professor emeritus of psychology, Princeton University
D.Sc., 1978
Patricia Albjerg Graham
Director of the National Institute of Education and historian of U.S. education
L.H.D., 1978
George W. Hazzard
Retiring president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
LL.D., 1978
Bradford Morse
Former U.S. representative; administrator of the U.N. Development Program
LL.D., 1978
Arthur M. Sackler
Psychiatrist, philanthropist, and art collector
D.Sc., 1978
Carl Sagan
Cornell University astronomer, astrophysicist, and author
D.Sc., 1978
Gustaf Harry Carlson A.B. 1926, A.M. 1927
Executive, R.P. Scherer Corp.; Clark School of Chemistry & Biochemistry named for him
D.Sc., 1977
Paul Abraham Freund
Legal scholar and professor, Harvard Law School
L.H.D., 1977
Arthur L. Mayer
Film producer
Litt.D., 1977
Frederick Merk
Professor of history and political science, Harvard
L.H.D., 1977
James Russell Wiggins
Journalist and president of the American Antiquarian Society
L.H.D., 1977
Paul W. Gates
Professor emeritus of history, Cornell; expert on the history of federal land policy
L.H.D., 1976
H. Guyford Stever
Director of the National Science Foundation
D.Sc., 1976
Leon Howard Sullivan
Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and social activist focused on job creation
L.H.D., 1976
Bernard Bailyn
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Harvard historian focused on American Revolution
L.H.D., 1975
Lucy Peters Wilson Benson
Secretary of human services for Massachusetts
LL.D., 1975
Forrest C. Pogue
Director, Eisenhower Institute for Military Research, Smithsonian Institute
L.H.D., 1975
Clifford Ladd Prosser
Professor of physiology, University of Illinois
D.Sc., 1975
Ray Allen Billington
Senior research associate, Huntington Library; taught at Clark
L.H.D., 1974
Alice Coonley Higgins
Clark trustee; first woman to chair a board at a private university in the U.S.
L.H.D., 1974
Harold S. Jantz
Professor of German, Johns Hopkins University
L.H.D., 1974
John Adam Jr.
President, Hanover Insurance Cos.
LL.D., 1974
Melvin D. Kennedy
First director of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity
L.H.D., 1974
Scott Nearing
Radical economist, activist, pacifist, vegetarian, co-wrote “Living the Good Life”
L.H.D., 1974
Elma Lewis
Director, National Center of Afro-American Artists
F.A.D., 1973
Paul L. Ward
Executive director, American Historical Association
L.H.D., 1973
Kevin H. White
Mayor of Boston
Speaker; LL.D., 1972
Carl T. Rowan
Statesman, journalist, and Clark's first African-American trustee
Speaker; LL.D., 1971
Richard Hartshorne
Former president, Association of American Geographers
LL.D., 1971
Samuel Van Valkenburg
Former director of Clark’s Graduate School of Geography; professor emeritus
LL.D., 1971
Fredson Bowers
Professor of English, University of Virginia; literary critic of Shakespearean drama
Litt.D., 1970
Rene Jules Dubos
Microbiologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “So Human an Animal”
D.Sc., 1970
John Johansen
Well-known architect who designed Clark's Goddard Library
F.A.D., 1970
John W. Kneller
President of Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Litt.D., 1970
Bert Loewenberg
Professor of history, Sara Lawrence College
LL.D., 1970
1960–1969
J. Leland Atwood
President, North American Rockwell Inc., and prominent aviation engineer
LL.D., 1969
John E. Barriere ’42
Executive director of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee
LL.D., 1969
Leona Baumgartner
Physician and first woman to serve as New York City’s health commissioner
D.Sc., 1969
Roman Jakobson
Linguist and professor at Harvard and MIT
S.Sc., 1969
Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr.
NASA astronaut, engineer, and fighter pilot; father studied under Goddard at Clark
D.Sc., 1969
Edward M. Kennedy
U.S. senator from Massachusetts
LL.D., 1969
Jack S. Parker
Vice chairman, General Electric Co.; aerospace engineer
LL.D., 1969
Clifford K. Shipton
Archivist, historian, and director emeritus, American Antiquarian Society
Litt.D., 1969
Richard P. Wilbur
Professor of English, Wesleyan University
Litt.D., 1969
John W. Gardner
Secretary of health, education, and welfare for Johnson’s Great Society agenda
LL.D., 1968
Preston E. James, Ph.D. 1923
Chair and professor of geography, Syracuse University; studied under Wallace Atwood
LL.D., 1968
John Jeppson
President of Norton Co., Worcester
LL.D., 1968
Susanne K. Langer
Philosopher, professor emeritus and research scholar, Connecticut College
L.H.D., 1968
George Wald
Professor of biology, Harvard; discovered importance of vitamin A for eyesight
LL.D., 1968
Everett Needham Case
President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; key to developing core curriculum in liberal arts
LL.D., 1967
Howard B. Jefferson
Fifth president of Clark University; philosopher and theologian
L.H.D., 1967
Henry Donaldson Jordan
Professor of English history, Harvard; Guggenheim Fellow
L.H.D., 1967
Dwight Erwin Lee
Clark’s Hiatt professor of European history; dean of the Graduate School
L.H.D., 1967
James Ackley Maxwell
Clark professor of economics; Guggenheim Fellow
L.H.D., 1967
Robert Alfred Nelson
Head of the Northeast Corridor Project under President Kennedy
D.Sc., 1967
Raymond Joseph Swords
President, College of the Holy Cross
LL.D., 1967
John Kirtland Wright
Geographer, cartographer, and former director, American Geographical Society
Litt.D., 1967
Clifton Waller Barrett
President, American Antiquarian Society
Litt.D., 1966
Leonard Baskin
Sculptor, graphic artist, founder of Gehenna Press, and Smith College art professor
L.H.D., 1966
Hans Heinrich Boesch
Professor/head of geography, University of Zurich; studied geography at Clark 1934-35
D.Sc., 1966
Charles Anderson Dana
Businessman, politician, and philanthropist for higher education, medical research
L.H.D., 1966
Francis Keppel
Former education commissioner; developed Elementary and Secondary Education Act
LL.D., 1966
William Hayward Pickering
Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology
D.Sc., 1966
Mary Ingraham Bunting
Radcliffe College president who led efforts to fully enroll women students at Harvard
Sc., 1965
Stephen Perham Jewett, A.B. 1904, A.M. 1906
New York psychiatrist who studied under psychologist G. Stanley Hall
D.Sc., 1965
Daniel Catton Rich
Director, Worcester Art Museum
Litt.D., 1965
Edward C. Welsh
Executive secretary to NASA during the Kennedy administration
LL.D., 1965
William V. Shannon ’47
Editorial writer for the New York Times; author of “The American Irish”
Speaker; Litt.D., 1964
Frank Hamilton Hankins
Retired professor of sociology at Clark (1906-22) and Smith College (1922-46)
L.H.D., 1964
Barnaby Conrad Keeney
Brown University president, historian, and Purple Heart Army veteran of World War II
Litt.D., 1964
Rafael Lorente de Nó
Neuroscientist who advanced the scientific understanding of the nervous system
D.Sc., 1964
Albert White Rice
Worcester attorney, civic leader, and philanthropist
LL.D., 1964
Ben Haig Bagdikian, A.B. 1941
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and foreign correspondent
Litt.D., 1963
Charles Edward Wyzanski Jr.
Judge, U.S. District Court for Massachusetts
LL.D., 1963
Sidney Stevens Negus, A.B. 1913
Retired biochemistry chair, Medical College of Virginia; posthumous award
D.Sc., 1963
Harold Ladd Plumley
Board chairman, president of State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America
LL.D., 1963
Hudson Hoagland
Clark biologist; worked on development of the birth control pill
Speaker; D.Sc., 1962
Samuel Hood Dolbear
Leading mining engineer, patent holder, and researcher; Clark trustee and student
D.Sc., 1962
Milton Prince Higgins
Chairman of Board for Norton Co.; civic leader in Worcester
LL.D., 1962
Sterling Moss McMurrin
U.S. commissioner of education; liberal Mormon theologian
LL.D., 1962
Agnes de Mille
Dancer and choreographer
Litt.D., 1962
Hans Joachim Morgenthau
Influential international relations theorist; University of Chicago political scientist
LL.D., 1962
Rafael Pico, Ph.D. ’62
President, Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico
LL.D., 1962
Isidor Isaac Rabi
Columbia physicist; won Nobel Prize for discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance
D.Sc., 1962
Ralph Johnson Bunche
First African-American to win a Nobel Prize; political scientist and diplomat
Speaker; LL.D., 1961
Stanley Jasspon Kunitz
American poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, and Worcester native
Litt.D., 1961
John Edward Sawyer
President, Williams College
LL.D., 1961
Arthur Stanton-Adams
President emeritus, American Council on Education
LL.D., 1961
Herman Wouk
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Caine Mutiny” and other works
Speaker; Litt.D., 1960
Wallace Kirkman Harrison
Architect, Harrison & Abramovitz, New York; involved with developing Rockefeller Center
Litt.D., 1960
Shannon McCune, Ph.D. ’39
Acting president, University of Massachusetts; geographer and researcher
LL.D., 1960
Richard Stetson Morse
Director and researcher, U.S. Army; credited with inventing orange juice concentrate
D.Sc., 1960
1950–1959
Wernher Von Braun
Aerospace engineer and space architect
Speaker; D.Sc., 1959
Samuel Howard Miller
Dean of Harvard Divinity School; baccalaureate preacher
Litt.D., 1959
Paul Wilbur Tappan
Criminologist, sociologist, and professor, University of California, Berkeley
LL.D., 1959
Edward Augustus Weeks
Writer, essayist, and editor of The Atlantic
Speaker; L.H.D., 1958
Kuo-Ching Li
Scientist, industrialist, and philanthropist; discovered and developed tungsten
D.Sc., 1958
Paul Allman Siple, Ph.D. ’39
Geographer, scientist, and Antarctic explorer; developed the wind chill factor
D.Sc., 1958
Robert Ulich
Education professor, Harvard University
Speaker; Litt.D., 1957
George Nathaniel Jeppson
Worcester industrialist and civic leader; chairman of the board, Norton Co.
LL.D., 1957
Charles Lynch , A.B. 1907
Presbyterian minister and missionary in Korea
L.H.D., 1957
Edwin Garrigues Boring
Psychology professor at Clark under G. Stanley Hall, then Harvard University
D.Sc., 1956
Henry Chase Marble, A.B. 1906
Surgeon; former president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
D.Sc., 1956
Eugene Ormandy
Conductor, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
Litt.D., 1956
Lester Bowles Pearson
Secretary of state for external affairs, Canada
Litt.D., 1956
Harold Manton Smith
Petroleum chemist, U.S. Bureau of Mines
D.Sc., 1956
Robert Cutler
National security advisor to Eisenhower; board chair, Old Colony Trust Co., Boston
LL.D., 1955
Oliver Mills Hayden, A.B. 1914
Assistant director of sales, Rubber Chemical Division, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
D.Sc., 1955
Laurence Dudley Stamp
Professor of social geography, London School of Economics
LL.D., 1955
George Leslie Stout
Director, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; founded lab to study art conservation
Litt.D., 1955
Robert Morse Woodbury, A.B. 1910
Retired chief statistician, International Labor Office; labor advisor for FDR
LL.D., 1955
Douglas Berry Copland
Economist, professor, and dean, University of Melbourne; knighted in 1950
LL.D., 1954
Homer Payson Little
Longtime dean of the college at Clark; geologist
LL.D., 1954
Louis Ten Eyck Thompson
U.S. Navy physicist on the Manhattan Project; vice president, Norden Laboratories
D.Sc., 1954
Paul Johannes Tillich
Professor of theology, Union Theological Seminary
L.H.D., 1954
Leonard Carmichael
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; former President of Tufts College
Litt.D., 1953
Clinton Hartley Grattan, A.B. ’23
Economic analyst, historian, freelance writer, and expert on Australia
Litt.D., 1953
Grayson Louis Kirk
President, Columbia University
LL.D., 1953
Charles Henry Sawyer
Dean of the School of Fine Arts, Yale University
L.H.D., 1953
Howard Mumford Jones
Professor of English, Harvard University
Litt.D., 1952
Solomon Lefschetz
Professor of mathematics, Princeton University
D.Sc., 1952
Richard Greeley Preston
Rector, All Saints Church, Worcester
L.H.D., 1952
Frederick Charles Bersworth
Owner, Bersworth Chemical Co.
D.Sc., 1951
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
U.S. senator from Massachusetts
LL.D., 1951
Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside
Director general, Technical Assistance Administration, United Nations
LL.D., 1951
Fred Albert Mettler
Professor of anatomy, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
D.Sc., 1951
Clarence Prouty Shedd
Professor, Yale Divinity School
L.H.D., 1951
Loring Holmes Dodd
Clark professor emeritus of rhetoric; helped finance residence hall named for his wife
L.H.D., 1950
Alvin Christian Eurich
First president of the State University of New York
LL.D., 1950
Charles Bungay Fawcett
Visiting professor of human geography at Clark from the University of London
D.Sc., 1950
Anna Freud
British psychoanalyst, child psychologist, and daughter of Sigmund Freud
LL.D., 1950
1940–1949
Samuel Nathaniel Behrman
Playwright, biographer, and writer for The New Yorker; Worcester native
Litt.D., 1949
Harry F. Guggenheim
Philanthropist, businessman, diplomat, and publisher
LL.D., 1949
Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr.
President of the University of Virginia
LL.D., 1949
Charles August Kraus
Chemistry professor at Clark, then Brown; consultant on the Manhattan Project
D.Sc., 1949
Edmund Randolph Laine, A.B. 1911
Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
L.H.D., 1949
Francis Henry Taylor
Director of Metropolitan Museum of Art; former director of Worcester Art Museum
Litt.D., 1949
Clarence Saunders Brigham
Director, American Antiquarian Society
Litt.D., 1948
Christian Archibald Herter
U.S. congressman from Massachusetts; leader in international affairs
LL.D., 1948
Carroll Cornelius Pratt, A.B. 1915, A.M. 1916, Ph.D. 1921
Chair and professor of psychology, Princeton; earlier, a Clark professor
D.Sc., 1948
Robert Luther Sibley, A.B. 1910, A.M. 1911
General manager, Monsanto-Chemical Co.
D.Sc., 1948
Robert Fiske Bradford
Governor of Massachusetts
LL.D., 1947
John Mason Brown
Columnist for The Saturday Review and theater critic
Litt.D., 1947
Alexander Hamilton Bullock
Retired president of Clark’s Board of Trustees, lawyer, and Worcester civic leader
LL.D., 1947
Edward Bates Peck
Research chemist, Roessler and Hasslacher Chemical Co.
D.Sc., 1947
Thomas Sherrard Roy
Pastor of First Baptist Church in Worcester
L.H.D., 1947
Charles Bunsen Shaw, A.B. 1915
Librarian, Swarthmore College
L.H.D., 1947
Wallace Walter Atwood, Ph.D. 1930
Second president of Clark; director of the Graduate School of Geography
LL.D., 1946
Spruille Braden
Assistant secretary of state; former ambassador to Colombia, Cuba, Argentina
LL.D., 1946
Charles Samuel Curtis, A.B. 1909
Director of Grenfell Mission, Newfoundland
D.Sc., 1946
Clarence Nichols Hickman, M.A. 1918
Physicist who worked on rockets with Robert Goddard at Clark
D.Sc., 1946
Ellsworth Huntington
Professor of geography, Yale; explorer
Litt.D., 1946
Robert Price Russell
President and research director, Standard Oil Development Corp.
D.Sc., 1946
George Francis Booth
Worcester newspaper publisher and civic leader
D.C.L., 1945
Kent Cooper
Executive director of the Associated Press; defender of freedom of the press
LL.D., 1945
Robert Hutchings Goddard, A.M. 1910
Father of modern rocketry; Clark professor of physics
D.Sc., 1945
William David Hassett
Journalist and secretary to presidents Roosevelt and Truman; attended Clark
M.A., 1945
Harry Galpin Stoddard
Worcester civic leader
D.C.L., 1945
Malcolm Macdonald Willey
Sociologist and vice president, University of Minnesota
L.H.D., 1945
Newton W. Alexander
U.S. Army commandant and trainer at Clark
M.A., 1944
Thomas Leon Patterson, A.B. 1909
Professor of physiology, Wayne University College of Medicine
D.Sc., 1944
Leverett Saltonstall
Governor of Massachusetts
LL.D., 1944
Wat Tyler Cluverius
President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; retired U.S. Navy admiral
LL.D., 1943
Esther Forbes
Pulitzer Prize- and Newbery Medal-winning author, best known for “Johnny Tremain”
Litt.D., 1943
Joseph Clark Grew
American career diplomat and Foreign Service officer
LL.D., 1943
Robert Ware Bodfish
Springfield, Massachusetts, attorney and civic leader
M.A., 1942
Mabel Knowles Gage
Worcester philanthropist and civic leader
D.C.L., 1942
Rosabelle Jacobus
Director of the Worcester Society of District Nursing
M.C.S., 1942
Hiram Newton Rasely, A.B. 1912
Vice president of Burdett Business College, Boston
M.A., 1942
Harry Ervin Yarnell
Retired U.S. Navy vice admiral; former commander of the Asiatic Fleet
LL.D., 1942
George Hubbard Blakeslee
Clark professor of history and international relations; founder of national journal
LL.D., 1941
Frederick Raymond Clee, A.B. 1917
Ordained Presbyterian minister, Old Bergen Church, Jersey City, N.J.
Litt.D., 1941
Katharine Cornell
Broadway actress (“The Barretts of Wimpole Street”), theater owner, and producer
F.A.D., 1941
Isadore Lubin
Economic advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt; supervised Consumer Price Index
LL.D., 1941
Frank Ross McCoy
Retired U.S. Army officer and WWI veteran; president of the Foreign Policy Association
LL.D., 1941
Benjamin Shores Merigold
Clark professor of chemistry and director of chemical laboratories
D.Sc., 1941
Howard Washington Odum, Ph.D. 1909
Sociology professor, University of North Carolina; studied psychology at Clark
L.H.D., 1941
Lowell Thomas
Author and explorer who publicized T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
L.H.D., 1941
Johannes A.C. Fagginger Auer
Unitarian minister, author, professor of theology, Harvard Divinity School
Litt.D., 1940
Hu Shih
Ambassador from China to the U.S.; literary scholar, philosopher, and politician
LL.D., 1940
1930–1939
Edmund Smith Conklin, A.M. 1909
Professor of psychology, Indiana University
D.Sc., 1939
Samuel Hood Dolbear
Leading mining engineer, patent holder, and researcher; Clark trustee
M.Sc., 1939
Ralph Barton Perry
Professor of philosophy, Harvard; syndic of Harvard University Press
L.H.D., 1939
William Lyon Phelps
Author, critic, radio host, columnist, and Yale professor emeritus of English
LL.D., 1939
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Actress, writer, and first woman to receive an honorary degree from Clark
F.A.D., 1939
Karl Worth Bigelow
Professor of education, Columbia University
L.H.D., 1938
Peng Chun Chang, A.B. 1913
Academic, philosopher, playwright, human rights activist, and diplomat
LL.D., 1938
Walter Stevens Young
Superintendent of Schools, Worcester, Massachusetts
Ed.D., 1938
Samuel Flagg Bemis, A.B. 1912
Professor of diplomatic history, Yale University
L.H.D., 1937
Samuel Paul Capen
University of Buffalo chancellor; American Council on Education president
Litt.D., 1937
Tyler Dennett
President of Williams College
LL.D., 1937
Henry Herbert Donaldson
Professor of neurology, Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia
D.Sc., 1937
Stephen Duggan
Director of Council on Foreign Relations
LL.S., 1937
Frederick Carlos Ferry, Ph.D. 1898
President of Hamilton College
D.Sc., 1937
Homer Gage
Worcester philanthropist and surgeon, Worcester City and Saint Vincent’s hospitals
LL.D., 1937
William Lowe Bryan, Ph.D. 1892
Indiana University president who studied under Clark psychologist G. Stanley Hall
LL.D., 1930
Ralph Earle
Worcester Polytechnic Institute president and U.S. Navy officer
LL.D., 1930
Arnold Lucius Gesell, Ph.D. 1906
Psychologist and director, Yale Clinic of Child Development; studied under G. Stanley Hall
D.Sc., 1930
Joseph Stevens Kadesch
School superintendent for Medford, Massachusetts
M.Ed., 1930
1920–1929
Paul W. Claudel
Ambassador from France to the United States
Speaker; Litt.D., 1929
Gustavus Adolphus
Crown Prince of Sweden; first tour of the U.S. in 1926
D.Sc., 1926
William Henry Burnham
Clark professor of pedagogy
LL.D., 1926
Granville Stanley Hall
First president of Clark University; psychologist
LL.D., 1924
Edmund Clark Sanford
Second president of Clark University; psychologist
LL.D., 1924
William Lyon Phelps
Yale professor of English; taught the first U.S. college course on the modern novel
L.H.D., 1920
1909
Carl Barus
Physics professor, Brown University
LL.D., 1909
Franz Boas
Anthropology professor, Columbia University
LL.D., 1909
Marston Taylor Bogert
Organic chemistry professor and department chair, Columbia University
LL.D., 1909
Hermon Carey Bumpus, Ph.D. 1891
Biologist and director, American Museum of Natural History
LL.D., 1909
Leo Burgerstein
Geologist, University of Vienna; wrote popular book on school hygiene
LL.D., 1909
Andre Debierne
Lead researcher in radioactivity, University of Paris
D.Sc., 1909
Sigmund Freud
Psychologist, University of Vienna; presented his only U.S. lecture at Clark
LL.D., 1909
Herbert Spenser Jennings
Experimental zoology professor, Johns Hopkins University
LL.D., 1909
Carl G. Jung
Psychologist, University of Zurich
LL.D., 1909
Percival Lowell
Astronomy professor, MIT
LL.D., 1909
Adolf Meyer
Director, Pathological Institute of New York
LL.D., 1909
Arthur Michael
First professor of chemistry at Clark (1889); best known for the Michael reaction
LL.D., 1909
Albert Abraham Michelson
Physics professor at Clark, then University of Chicago
Phys.D., 1909
Eliakim Hastings Moore
Mathematics professor and department head, University of Chicago
Math.D., 1909
Ernest Fox Nichols
President of Dartmouth College
LL.D., 1909
Arthur Amos Noyes
Chemistry professor and research lab director, MIT
LL.D., 1909
William Albert Noyes
Chemistry professor, University of Illinois
LL.D., 1909
William Fogg Osgood
Mathematics professor, Harvard University
LL.D., 1909
James Pierpont
Mathematics professor, Yale University
LL.D., 1909
Theodore William Richards
Chemistry professor, Harvard University
Chem.D., 1909
Ernest Rutherford
Experimental physics professor, University of Manchester
Phys.D., 1909
William Stern
Philosophy professor, University of Breslau
LL.D., 1909
Julius Stieglitz
Chemistry professor and department director, University of Chicago
D.Sc., 1909
Edward Bradford Tichener
Psychology professor, Cornell University
Litt.D., 1909
Edward Burr Van Vleck
Mathematics professor, University of Wisconsin
LL.D., 1909
Vito Volterra
Mathematical physics professor, University of Rome
Phys.D., 1909
Charles Otis Whitman
Zoology professor and department head, University of Chicago
Biol.D., 1909
Lebbeus L. Wilfley
First judge of the U.S. Court for China
LL.D., 1909
Robert Williams Wood
Experimental physics professor, Johns Hopkins University
LL.D., 1909
1902-1905
Henry Cabot Lodge
U.S. senator from Massachusetts
LL.D., 1902
Carroll Davidson Wright
First president of Clark College; first U.S. commissioner of labor
LL.D., 1902
1899
Ludwig Boltzmann
Theoretical physics professor, University of Vienna
LL.D., 1899
Santiago Raymon y Cajal
Histology professor, University of Madrid
LL.D., 1899
August Forel
Psychologist and asylum director, Switzerland
LL.D., 1899
Angelo Mosso
Physicologist and rector, University of Turin
LL.D., 1899
Emile Picard
Mathematics professor, University of Paris
LL.D., 1899